A New Beginning
by Lexi Lupin
Summary: Kind of a different start of season 5...so obviously, be aware of season 4 and 5 spoilers in here...Jack becomes aware of people watching him and realizes he must escape with Diane and Derek...but he needs Chloe's
1. Chapter 1

**Kind of an alternate intro to season 5 because, frankly, I would rather that Tony and Michelle and Palmer never got killed.  Some similarities but also rather different. So, needless to say, some potential season 4 and 5 spoilers abound.**

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, 24 doesn't belong to me. If it did…well, I can think of someone who would be a better girlfriend for Jack than Audrey…

Bill Buchanan, director of CTU, stepped on to the floor early one Tuesday morning and called everyone's attention to him. "Okay everyone, if you can, put away your current assignment. We've been getting increased chatter out of central Asia and China and I want as much manpower focused on that as possible."

Bill was nervous whenever an issue came up with China, remembering what had happened eighteen months prior. As far as he knew, that incident with the Chinese consul had caused the death of agent Jack Bauer by a secret service agent sent to turn him over to the Chinese. Jack had tried to run, got in a shootout with the agent, and Tony Almeida found his body.

Robbed of their justice, Bill feared the Chinese would reopen the issue and lay the blame somewhere else; primarily, he feared it would fall on CTU, the agency Jack was working for at the time of the attack which killed the consul.

Bill called Chloe O'Brien to him and handed her a disc. "Chloe, can you try and pinpoint the source of some of these transmissions? I know you've got a lot else on your plate right now, but you're the best systems analyst we've got and I want this done quickly and efficiently."

Chloe nodded. "No problem, I can farm some of my other work to Spencer and Jay. I'll get right on it."

SCENE

"Frank! Hey, Frank, wait up a minute!"

The friendly face turned to look at George. "Hey, George," he said amiably.

"Hey, Frank. Just wanted to say sorry. I know I promised you some work today but one of the lines broke last night, we had to make more cuts."

"Don't worry about it, George, I'll try back tomorrow. If you'll excuse me, however, I need to go talk to Alan…"

Jack Bauer strolled up to the nearest building and entered. Alan was the general supervisor of the oil fields and a good guy, if not too bright. Jack wanted to ask him about something he had noticed the last few times he had gone out to work. As he approached the office, however, he heard voices and stopped to listen.

"…friend of mine, I heard he had come out here looking for work. I was wondering if you recognized him."

Jack peered around the corner in to the office so see a burly white male with dark hair standing in front of Alan's desk, holding a photograph. It was dark and difficult to see. It looked like it had been cut from footage from a surveillance camera but it was quite easy for Jack to recognize. It was himself.

Alan took the photo and scrutinized it. Jack silently pleaded that he would not be able to make out the picture.

"Not a very good picture, is it?" Alan muttered. "I think, can't be sure, but I think it's Frank Flynn." Jack cursed under his breath.

"That's right," said the man, "that's who I'm looking for. He works for you then?"

Jack didn't hear anymore. He was moving as quickly and silently to his truck as possible, his worst suspicions of the last several days confirmed. He had suspected he was being watched but wasn't sure if he was just being paranoid. Now he was certain; he had been found.

He drove to the apartment complex on the edge of the compound and parked a few blocks from the building he stayed in. He made his way swiftly to the building and, quietly as possible, unlocked, opened, and closed the door of his apartment. Locking it with the deadbolt and chain, he turned and headed for the bedroom. He grabbed a screwdriver from his dresser and set to work on an old, non-functioning vent on the wall, removing the cover of it. Finally plying the cover completely off, he reached inside and extricated a gray messenger bag. Replacing the cover of the vent, he heard a knock at the door of the apartment. Silently, carrying the bag slung over his shoulder, he crept toward the door.

"Mr. Flynn?"

Not responding, Jack peered out the peephole in the door. It was the same man who had been in Alan's office. Not getting a response, he turned and knocked on the door across the hall from Jack's; Diane's.

Diane Huxley had made a living renting out apartments to men who worked in the oil fields for more than ten years now, since her husband had left her and their five year old son. Fifteen months ago she had rented one right across the hall from her to a Frank Flynn. He was mysterious but intelligent and caring, and very different from the rest of the men who lived in her apartments. They had been friends and then a couple. He spent as much time in her apartment as his own. Her son, Derek, didn't trust Frank but she merely attributed this to his protectiveness of his mother.

Jack watched as Diane opened the door and began talking to the man. He managed to catch the words 'left for work' and 'back later' before the conversation was over. The man thanked her and went on his way. Diane retreated back in to the apartment.

Jack continued to peer out in to the hallway for a few minutes, thinking hard. If this man knew he and Diane were together, and he just disappeared, there was no telling what could happen to Diane and Derek. He would have to take them with him. And do so without being seen. And Jack had no idea how many people were watching him.

He crept in to the hallway and knocked as softly as he could on Diane's door. She opened it and looked surprised to see him.

"Frank, what are you doing back so soon? I thought you had gone to work."

"Get inside the apartment, Diane, I'll explain in a minute." He ushered her back in the door and closed it, locking it behind him. He quickly circled the apartment and checked any windows to make sure they were closed and blinded completely.

"Frank, what's going on? You're acting really weird. Does this have to do with that man that just came looking for you?"

"It's okay," Jack soothed. "I'm just being careful. What did the man say?"

"Being careful?" she asked. "About what?"

"Please, Diane," he implored her, "tell me what he said."

She gave him a funny look before proceeding. "Nothing really, just that he was an old friend of yours and he asked if that was your apartment across the hall. He said he knocked and no one answered."

"That's it?"

"Yes. Now will you please tell me what is happening?"

"We need to leave as quickly as possible. Pack a bag for a few nights. Where's Derek."

"He's in his room. What do you mean leave? I can't just leave on a moment's notice like that, Frank."

"Mom? What's going on?" Derek had emerged from his room to see Jack and Diane arguing. Jack turned to him.

"You need a pack a bag for a few nights away, quickly. I don't have time to explain now."

"Frank, this is crazy. You need to leave until you can take the time to explain because neither me, nor my son, are going anywhere with you like this."

"Your very lives may depend on it," Jack pleaded with them. He saw Diane flash a quick look to Derek. He turned to see Derek pick up the telephone. "Put the phone down, Derek," he said gently. Derek shook his head.

"Get out of here or I'll call the police," he threatened, dialing the first number.

"Derek, please, don't make me stop you by force, because I will do it." Derek hit a second number in response. Jack reached in to his bag and pulled out a gun. Diane gave a small shriek of surprise and fear, covering her mouth with her hands. Derek's arm froze in midair as Jack pointed the gun at him. "Put the phone back on the receiver," he said calmly. Derek immediately complied. "Now come over here and sit on the couch with your mother." Derek did so, slowly. "Now, here's what is happening. There are some men after me. They found out where I live so I need to leave. If I do, however, they might use you two as a way to get to me or see if you know where I went. Therefore, you have to come with me, because I do not want anything to happen to you. Do I make myself clear?" Both nodded. "Very well. If you would like, pack a small overnight bag with a couple changes of clothes, something you can easily sling over your back."

Jack removed the battery pack from the cordless phone, knowing it was the only phone in the house. He couldn't risk either of them calling anyone on the outside. The phones had probably been tapped already. He pulled out his PDA and cell phone. There was only one person that could help him now.

SCENE

Chloe was hunched down at her computer station, her posture screaming 'don't bother me right now!' When her cell phone rang, she didn't even hear it at first.

"You gonna get that?" Spencer called from across the next station.

Chloe flipped it on in annoyance and said, "O'Brien," in a distracted and frustrated tone.

"Chloe, it's me. Are you alone?" Chloe stopped her work dead in her tracks.

"Yeah," she responded quietly, "I'm alone. What's the matter?" She had talked to Jack only three times since he disappeared and only when he was feeling depressed and wanted to know about Kim. This did not sound like one of those times which could only mean one thing: trouble.

"They've found me. Don't ask me how, but they've found me." Chloe sucked in a breath.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Upload satellite images of the oil field compound to my PDA. I need to get to a different building without being seen. There are people watching me but I don't know where they are yet."

"Hardly sounds that difficult for you," she muttered as she typed hastily at her terminal.

"It isn't. My problem is that I have a woman and her son with me. I've been living across the hall from her and we've been dating for six months. I think the people after me know that and they'll go after her."

"Got it. Alright, give me a few minutes and call me back."

"Thanks, Chloe." He hung up the phone.

Spencer was approaching Chloe's work station. She quickly keyed out of the program she was using and returned to the disk Buchanan had given her.

"Hey, Chloe," Spencer said.

"What is it Spencer?" Chloe replied in her most 'get-away-from-me' voice.

"Can you show me how to widen the parameters on this search further? I've almost got something but it keeps…"

"Ask Edgar, I'm busy," she cut him off mid-sentence. Spencer shrugged and headed towards Edgar, peering back just in time to see Chloe's screen switch to a satellite view of something, before he turned a corner.

Chloe's phone rang a couple minutes later. "You have it?"

"Yeah. Images uploading to your PDA…now."

SCENE

"Are you some kind of criminal or something?" Diane asked after Jack had hung up the phone. "The government has found you, is that it?"

"No," Jack snapped. "But the less you know about me right now, the better. I'll explain everything as soon as it's safe." He paused and glanced at his phone. "Come on." Studying his PDA and noting the positions of people in the area, he herded Diane and Derek out in to the hallway of the apartment building. "Alright, you need to go quickly and quietly and follow all of my instructions. Clear? Go."

The three left the building and entered the open air. Diane was mentally praying that someone would come along and see them and she could get help. She couldn't believe this turn of events from someone she had trusted so much.

Jack directed them in a slightly roundabout way to an old, unused power station a few hundred meters from the apartment complex. The door was locked but old and rotted. Jack easily kicked it in and guided the other two inside.

"Okay, stay low and stay quiet," he instructed, pulling out his cell phone again.

SCENE

Chloe was finishing up her report for Buchanan when her cell rang again. She quickly turned it on. "Now what do you need?"

"Schematics for the underground passages between buildings of the complex," Jack replied.

"I'm on it," Chloe replied and Jack hung up.

"I didn't know there were underground tunnels," Diane said quietly.

"Not many people do, they aren't used much anymore. There's one which will lead about a kilometer outside the grounds, across the highway and in to the trees, to a small abandoned building. No one will know about the passageways and it should be a smooth getaway from there."

Diane nodded, still deathly afraid of where he would take them and what he would do with them. He hardly seemed evil, even now, but she shuddered remembering how natural he had seemed pulling the gun on Derek. What kinds of things had Frank been involved in before they had met? Maybe Derek had been on the right track when he insisted there was no way Frank had worked on that rig up in Alaska previously.

Jack waited a few more minutes before calling Chloe back. "Got 'em?" he asked.

"Yeah. Transferring data…now. Do you need anything else?"

"This should be enough to get us out. I have a vehicle waiting there. I'll call back when we get out."

"Alright. Good luck." The phone clicked off and they were on their way once again.

SCENE

Edgar looked over to see Chloe turning off her cell phone for the third or fourth time. Wondering if something was wrong, he got up and ambled over to her.

"Chloe?"

"What, Edgar?"

"Is everything okay?"

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "What?"

"I noticed you keep getting lots of calls on your cell phone, I thought there might be a problem with family or something."

"No, Edgar, no problem," she snapped. "Just something I've had to deal with. Now can I please do my job?"

"Yeah, sure," he muttered and headed back to his own station. When he got there, he was accosted by Spencer.

"What was that all about, with Chloe?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing. She's just acting weird."

"Edgar, Chloe always acts weird." Spencer drawled.

"Yeah, but this is different. I feel like she's hiding something or doing something that maybe she's not supposed to be doing."

"Yeah," agreed Spencer, "I felt the same way."

"Anyway," said Edgar, "it's none of our business. I'm sure she's just having a bad day or something."

"Mmhmm," Spencer murmured, glancing in Chloe's direction as she stood up and headed towards Buchanan's office. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he walked over and sat at her terminal. He punched a few keys and entered a few passwords and got what he was looking for. He quickly exited the program and went back to Edgar's station.

"Just as I thought," he declared. "She's been working on something on the side. Something completely unrelated to what she should be doing."

"How do you know that?" Edgar demanded.

"I looked at her file history on her computer."

"Spencer, first of all, whatever she's been doing is none of our business, second, I didn't think you had password clearance to do that."

"How can you say it's not our business?" Spencer asked, waving off the part about the passwords. "If she's not doing her job right, it could screw up the rest of us, not to mention it's affecting the level of work she's getting done. Who knows what she could be really working on?"

Edgar sighed and glanced up at Buchanan's office, which Chloe was leaving. "What was she looking at?" he asked quietly.

"Satellite images and schematics of an oil refinery or something like that, someplace a ways south of here. It looked like she's been transferring information to somebody on the outside." Spencer looked at Chloe. "I'm going to talk to Buchanan."

"Spencer, come on," Edgar said, "this is Chloe we're talking about. I seriously doubt she's doing anything illegal or against his orders."

"I'm talking to him," he insisted, and walked to the stairs leading up to Buchanan's office.

Edgar watched Chloe sit back down and fiddle with something on her keyboard. After a few moments she got back up and approached him.

"Edgar, has someone been using my computer?" Edgar glanced up at Buchanan's office and decided to tell her what Spencer did.

"I tried to stop him, I told him it wasn't his business."

"Tried to stop who, Edgar?"

"Spencer. He looked back at everything you've been doing and then went to talk to Buchanan. I told him he didn't need to worry about you but he wouldn't listen."

Edgar had never seen Chloe look so helpless as she did in the next few seconds. "Chloe? What's been going on? Chloe?" But she was already out of earshot. She hurried back to her computer and began tapping keys but to no avail. She had already been locked out of her own system. She sat there a few seconds before a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Chloe?" Buchanan was standing above her. "Shall we have this conversation out here?" he asked quietly, "or would you prefer to move somewhere more private?"

"I'm coming," she muttered. He guided her to an interrogation room, where the door was locked behind them.

"Sit." Buchanan instructed. Chloe sat. "I have a hard time believing what you were doing was wrong. I know you have a history of insubordination with CTU but it has always been for the better good in one way or another so why don't you just tell me right now why you've been transferring satellite images to an external source and we can get this cleared up right away. Then maybe you can get off with a minimal punishment." Chloe said nothing. "The longer you hold out on me, the worse it's going to be for you when this is all said and done. Well?"

Chloe sat there like a statue. She would never give up Jack, no matter what CTU and Buchanan threw at her.

"Very well. Let's start with the oil fields. What's at the oil fields?"

"Oil?" Chloe quipped.

Buchanan slammed a fist down on the table. "I swear to you Chloe, the one thing that will land you worse off than silence is sarcasm. I don't have time to do this. I am leaving you here for twenty minutes and when I come back, if you come completely clean with me, you can go back to work like nothing ever happened. If you don't…"

He was cut off by the sound of Chloe's cell phone ringing. She stiffened visibly, eyes wide.

"Take it out," Buchanan told her. She did so with trembling fingers. It was on the third ring already. "Answer it." She held it steady in her palm but refused to turn it on. It ceased ringing and then started again a few seconds later.

"Ah," Buchanan said. "So it has to do with this mystery caller of yours I take it. Spencer said you'd answered your phone several times in a short span of time. Very well," he plucked it from her grip. "Sharon will have this traced in five minutes, we are going to find out what you've been up to and God help you when we do."

SCENE

Jack shut his phone when he received no answer the second time. "Son of a bitch," he muttered to himself.

The three had reached the end of the tunnel system. All that remained was a ladder up into the building. Jack had left a car there months ago and it was undisturbed. But if Chloe was in trouble for helping him…well that changed all his plans.

He sat thinking for several moments when suddenly, he saw a movement out the corner of his eye. He raised an arm and deflected the hand that was a split second away from bringing a heavy rock down on top of his head. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed Derek by the throat, pushing him against the wall.

"That was a stupid maneuver, kid," he growled. He ignored Diane's pleas to let her son go. "Let's get one thing straight. The only reason you're not unconscious right now is that I don't want to have to carry you, understood? The sooner you realize I'm trying to help you, not hurt you, the better off we'll all be." He let go and Derek slumped to the floor. Diane skirted around Jack and cradled her son who was more shaken than anything.

An idea sprang in to Jack's mind. An idea that just might be crazy enough to work. But it would be tricky and very dangerous if discovered. He dialed the number he had memorized eighteen months ago and prayed the right person would answer. With a click, the call connected.

"Palmer."

SCENE

**Okay, I was originally going to make this a one-shot but it's taking too long and I want to post it so I took the first part as chapter 1…I'm already well underway with the second one, should expect it by the end of the weekend I hope. Lots of work though (I work in a theatre…with Pirates of the Caribbean opening…yeah, my life becomes a living hell, haha)**

**Tell me what you think…hopefully I can make any improvements to chappie 2 with your input!**

**Cheers!**

**Lexi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so as it turns out, this is going to be more parts than I originally expected. So here's chapter 2…I anticipate anywhere from 1 to 3 more. **

**Do you like it? Please let me know! R & R!**

Chloe was left to herself for some time under all the usual threats. Losing her job, prosecuted, charged with treason. If she didn't talk the next time Buchanan came back, he said he was going to have security haul her off to really have her interrogated. There wasn't much they could do though. Not knowing for sure that she was working against the government, they couldn't justify some of the more unpleasant methods of getting her to talk. There weren't any real incentives they could use to persuade her; it's not like she had kids or a husband or anything like that.

Buchanan hadn't brought up her phone again and Chloe took that to mean they couldn't cut through the encryption file she had placed on it and he was somewhat embarrassed about that fact.

Buchanan came back a few minutes later and sat down again. "Well?"

"Well what?" she demanded.

He sighed. "This is your last chance. Talk to me and your punishment will remain at a minimum." Chloe just stared at him, nonplussed. "Very well. I didn't want to have to do this."

"Do what?" Chloe asked, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. Buchanan said nothing but began to reach for the phone receiver. Before he could get it, however, it beeped.

"Mr. Buchanan?" a voice said.

"Yes?" he sounded irritable.

"There's…someone here to see you and Ms. O'Brien."

Buchanan snatched the phone out of the cradle. "Well who is it?" he demanded. Chloe was flummoxed. She saw his face register disbelief and confusion before settling on just being plain stunned. Chloe's heart skipped a beat. Who could it possibly be except…no…he wouldn't come out of hiding for her, he knew she could take care of herself.

"Escort him back," Buchanan said in a choked voice. He turned a calculating eye on Chloe who just looked bewildered. There was a knock on the door. "Enter!" called Buchanan, standing up.

And the last person Chloe would ever have expected to see came in to the room, shutting the door behind him. She scrambled out of her chair as the former president of the United States reached over to shake her hand. Besides Jack himself, Palmer was the last person she had expected to walk through that door.

"It's good to see you again, Chloe," Palmer said warmly, staring intently in to her eyes, a message Chloe took to be 'shut up and don't mention the fact that we've never met before.'

"What can we do for you, Mr. President?" Buchanan asked.

"_You_ can let Ms. O'Brien here out of this interrogation room. I'm sure she'll gladly resign if you wish her to, but I can assure you, she was not doing anything of harmful intent."

"How did you know…?" Buchanan started to ask.

"She was helping me with something," Palmer explained smoothly. "I apologize for intruding on CTU, but I met Chloe here a couple years ago and thought she might be able to help me with something that came up today. She assured me it wouldn't be a problem. I'm sure you understand, however, I can not go in to much detail. It was a highly sensitive matter."

Buchanan looked as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Of course. I suppose Chloe is free to go then." He gave a half-hearted shrug. "If there's anything else CTU can do for you, sir, just name it and…"

"There is, actually," Palmer declared. "I have a woman and her son that will be arriving in approximately one hour. If you could provide them with protection, just for a couple days max, I would be forever in your debt."

"Of course, it's not a problem," Buchanan acquiesced.

Chloe began to sidle towards the door. "I'll go type up my resignation," she offered to Buchanan.

He sized her up for a moment before waving his hand in dismissal at the idea. "Just try not to do it again," he sighed.

"Bill," Palmer interjected, "if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a word with Chloe alone. It's a private conversation, I'd prefer that the video and audio surveillance were turned off. Just for a few minutes."

Buchanan shook the former president's hand and exited the room. Chloe watched the camera until the miniscule red light went off, signaling the surveillance had been switched off.

"Is he okay?" she immediately asked.

"Perfectly well," Palmer told her. He seems to have prepared every possible contingency plan in case he had to escape from his new home. He called and said you were in some trouble down here. I just happened to be in town, thought I'd pay Bill Buchanan a little visit."

"I can't thank you enough for doing so, sir," Chloe sighed, "he was getting ready to haul me off and _really_ interrogate me."

Palmer smiled at her. "Good, then you owe me. I can't take my driver- secret service still won't let me drive my own car- so you can take me to the rendez-vous point to meet up with him and the other two so we can bring them back here. I couldn't risk him being seen by someone who didn't already know about him."

Palmer and Chloe were being very careful. Just in case there was someone listening, no names could be mentioned.

"I can do that," Chloe consented.

SCENE

"Hello?"

"Michelle?" At the sound of the voice, Michelle put down the newspaper she had been perusing.

"Bill?"

Tony Almeida looked up in surprise from the papers he had been going over.

"Is Tony there with you Michelle?" Buchanan asked.

"Yeah," Michelle replied. "Want me to put it on speaker?"

"Please."

"Okay, we're both here. What do you need, what's going on?"

Bill was silent for a few moments. "Strange things have been going on at CTU today and there's some common ground, but I just can't seem to put my finger on what that is." Another few moments of silence. "Were either of you aware of a preexisting relationship between Chloe O'Brien and David Palmer?"

Michelle and Tony exchanged alarmed looks.

"Maybe indirectly," Tony said cautiously, "they probably had some form of communication at least once while Jack was helping Palmer a couple years ago. Why do you ask?"

"One of our newer tech people, Spencer, he came to me this morning and said Chloe had been behaving strangely- stranger than usual- and had taken several cell phone calls in a very short period of time. He dug in to her terminal and found she had been transmitting satellite images and building plans to an external source. She refused to say anything and I was just about to have her taken away for serious questioning when David Palmer himself showed up at CTU."

"Palmer went there?"

"Sure did. Insisted Chloe had been helping him with something but he couldn't talk. Then he said a woman and her son would be arriving at CTU within the hour and would need protection. The two just left together to go pick them up. Something isn't adding up."

"And neither said protection from what?" Tony asked.

"No. Palmer just asked to talk to Chloe alone and without video or audio surveillance of the room. They talked a few minutes and then left to go get these two people." Buchanan paused, thinking. "I think Palmer might be helping her cover up for something or someone. But I have no idea who."

Tony and Michelle looked at each other. Both had their suspicions about what was going on. Michelle spoke up. "Look, Bill, why don't we come in and talk to Chloe when she gets back. We know her better, maybe she'll talk to us. It won't take us long to get there."

"I would appreciate that."

"See you in about twenty minutes."

SCENE

"They should be here soon," Jack told Diane and Derek. It killed him to see them so scared, especially since it was him they were afraid of, but it was for their own good that they knew as little as possible.

"Who are they? Why won't you tell us anything, Frank?"

"You never know when the plan will change, when something will go wrong. Until you are with them, I'd prefer you did not know names."

Jack had arranged to meet Palmer and Chloe behind an empty warehouse about ten blocks away from CTU. It would be away from prying eyes and they could make the exchange and then Jack could return to the oil fields and find out who was looking for him and hopefully, by making an obvious 'escape' to somewhere a couple hundred miles away, draw their attention away from Los Angeles and, with any amount of luck, from Diane and Derek.

A van turned the corner of the building and slowly headed towards Jack's vehicle. He had his gun out in the event of an ambush. The van flashed its headlights twice quickly and twice slowly and Jack relaxed. That was the signal.

"They're here," he said. "Let's go."

The three clambered out of the car and he led them hastily to the waiting vehicle. Chloe jumped down from the driver's seat and ran to meet Jack, hugging him fiercely.

"I was so worried," she breathed. "What are you going to do now?"

"Don't worry about me," he assured her. "He's waiting in the back?" Chloe nodded.

"Diane, Derek, this is Chloe O'Brien, a good friend of mine. She'll be taking you back to the CTU building, not far from here," Jack made the appropriate introductions. He then led them to the back of the van and opened the door. He smiled, reached in, and shook Palmer's hand.

"It's great to see you alive and well again, Jack," Palmer told him.

"Sir, this is Diane Huxley and her son Derek. Diane, Derek…President Palmer. Another friend of mine who was generous enough to help us out this morning." Diane was slack jawed as she shook the former president's hand.

"I…wha- Frank? Who are you?" she asked in bewilderment.

Jack turned to her and hugged her. "Someone that isn't supposed to still be alive," he said. "I have to leave now. These people will take good care of you. I'll be back in touch when it's safe for you to return to your home."

Jack turned to leave and Chloe began to get back in the driver's seat when a rumble filled the air for a few seconds and was quickly replaced by sirens.

"That was an explosion," Chloe said in a trembling voice. Smoke could be seen rising above the buildings of downtown LA. The fire wasn't far. "It might have come from CTU. It's in that direction."

Jack stood unsure, torn between going back into hiding and finding who was watching him or checking up on CTU and inconspicuousness be damned. He teetered on the edge for a moment before making a decision.

"Chloe, got any blankets or anything I can use to cover up with in the back of the van?"

SCENE

"Mr. Buchanan, I think you need to have a look at this."

"Did you find anything, Curtis?"

Curtis studied the papers in his hands. "It doesn't make a lot of sense. We traced any calls between Chloe and David Palmer and we found something, but it's not a call directly between their numbers."

Buchanan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"A series of short calls- all well encrypted- were made to Palmer eighteen months ago on which Chloe was logged in externally."

"Who was making the calls?"

"There were two different numbers. We traced them both back to cell phones belonging to Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida. It isn't completely out of the realm of possibility that either of them would have been calling him that day. It was the same day the Secretary of Defense was kidnapped and the President's plane shot down."

"And the day Jack Bauer was killed," Buchanan put in.

"Exactly. And the timing of the calls is what doesn't make sense. They all occurred after the missile was stopped and Marwan was dead. All but one occurred in the time span between Jack Bauer returning to CTU and the secret service agent coming to take him in to custody."

Buchanan considered that piece of information. "You think they might have known something about Jack's death? Maybe tried to prevent it?"

Curtis shrugged. "Difficult to say. But there's something the four of them have in common relating to that day and that's probably the key to what is happening today."

"Michelle and Tony are on their way here now," Buchanan told him. "I'm such an idiot. I called them to ask if they knew about any contact Chloe had ever had with Palmer in the past, they probably knew exactly what I was talking about. Michelle immediately offered to come up and talk with Chloe, see what they could get out of her. She probably just wants to make sure their stories are all corroborated." He checked his watch. "They should arrive any minute. Let's go meet them and see what they really know."

SCENE

"You need to be careful not to leave any traces of your work," Spencer told the tech guy. He had been called and told to let him through security.

Silence.

"Seriously. If someone realizes what you did, they'll look back and see how you got in and we'll both be in trouble. My position here is important."

"I think I got it," the guy told Spencer in annoyance. "I've been doing this since before you were born, kid."

Spencer ignored the jab. "I've got to get back to work before someone notices I'm gone," he said. "Just try not to be seen." He turned and left the room. The other man watched him go and then pulled out his bag and set to work.

SCENE

Tony and Michelle rolled in to the parking lot. Buchanan and Curtis were standing there at the building entrance, waiting for them. Michelle climbed out first and went to meet Bill. He kissed her on the cheek, turned, and shook hands with Tony.

Buchanan spoke first. "Chloe and Palmer should be back in a few minutes. There was something I wanted to discuss with you first, however. Curtis pulled these records from-…"

Curtis cut him off. He gestured to where a man was climbing out of the back of a sleek black car. "Do you recognize him?" he asked Buchanan. Buchanan shook his head.

"He's probably just a tech person. Maybe someone called in a vehicle problem."

"No, that's the car Palmer came in. He's not even here right now, he went with Chloe. And that's not Palmer's secret service driver." Buchanan seemed unsure. The man began walking faster and Curtis began to follow.

"Hey! Wait up a minute!" he called after him. There was no response. The man began to run and turned a corner.

And the world exploded.

**Well there it is…a little suspenseful for ya…I'm going to be at work for the next 3 days straight (haha.) so maybe the next one Sunday night or Monday sometime…we shall see. **

**Please review…cuz you love me like that. **

**Cheers!**

**Lexi**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow…sorry. I'm totally evil. Got caught up in other things. Never updated. Been ages. Sorry. Will you ever forgive me?**

**Disclaimer: I think we all know this already. Not mine. Wish it were, but not. Sorry. **

**Chapter 3**

"Is it done?"

"No. There were…complications."

"What kind of complications? Your mission was simple and extremely important!"

"I was seen and followed. The only way to ensure I could get away was to detonate early."

There was a long pause. "Where are you now?"

"Back at my car. Everyone at CTU will be too busy for the next few minutes making sure no one was hurt, by the time anyone thinks to look for me, it will be too late. And the man following me was hurt, if not killed. He will be in no condition to make any sort of ID."

Another pause. "Go back, to wherever you were originally going to hide out and watch the parking lot. Fix this." A click, and the conversation was terminated.

SCENE

Tony wasn't sure for how long he had blacked out but he came to as Michelle was gently shaking him.

"Tony…come on, Tony, wake up. Oh please, you have to wake up…Tony?"

He groggily opened his eyes. The first things that registered in his mind were the loud sirens and the medical personnel running every which way. Michelle hugged him tightly. "Oh thank God," she breathed. Tony wearily lifted a hand and ran it through her dirty matted hair.

"You okay?" he asked weakly. She looked about as bad as he felt.

"Fine," she assured. "I told security what happened. They're starting to set up a hard perimeter." She had a few noticeable cuts on her face but nothing looked too serious. "Can you stand? I have to go find Bill and Curtis."

Tony jolted as he was able to wrap his mind around what had happened. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, help me up." The two approached a cluster of paramedics and peered around them. Michelle let out a gasp.

"Bill! Oh, Bill…no…this can't be happening…not Bill and Curtis." The medics had stabilized Bill. He didn't look good but he was nothing compared to Curtis. Curtis was practically unrecognizable due to the burns on the right half of his face. One of the paramedics was hurriedly applying some burn salve. An oxygen mask had been placed over Curtis's face. He appeared to be bleeding profusely from his left leg, where some kind of flying shrapnel had punctured the skin.

Michelle turned and buried her face in Tony's shoulder. He rubbed her back soothingly and tried to ignore the pounding pain in his own head. Finally one of the medics made his way over to them.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"We're fine for the moment."

"Then we're trying to move everyone out of the open air and in to the medical wing. Someone will check you out when we have a free set of hands." Tony nodded and began to lead Michelle in to the building when she tugged at him to stop.

"Tony- look."

He turned in time to see a van, driven by Chloe O'Brien, come tearing to a stop just a few meters from the wrecked vehicle. She jumped out and, spotting them, came rushing over.

"What's happened?" she demanded.

"Palmer's car blew up!" Tony gestured. "Bill and Curtis are seriously hurt. Michelle and I were the only other ones out here, we're fine."

Security was now ushering Palmer in to CTU, closely followed by more agents escorting Diane and Derek Huxley. Jack remained well hidden in the back of the van and, in the current situation, it's not like anyone was looking too closely for stowaways.

"What's been going on, Chloe?" Michelle questioned. "Bill called us and said you and Palmer have been communicating all day."

Chloe leaned in and lowered her voice. "Jack's in the back of the van. Someone found him out, he had to escape with his girlfriend and her son."

"So that's who…?"

"That's who got out of the van with President Palmer."

Michelle let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"Well this changes things," she admitted. "This changes things a lot. If someone knows Jack is still alive…"

She was cut off by two shots in quick succession. The three ducked and turned in time to see Jack tear out of the back of the van, quickly followed by two of the security agents escorting Palmer. They had just reached the doorway when a shot ricocheted off the cement wall not two inches from Palmer's head. Jack, anticipating such an action, had been watching from the back of the van and had let off a shot of his own towards the would-be assassin. Apparently his protectiveness of the president that had done so much for him outweighed his own desire to remain secret to the world. Jack reached the man who had dropped his own weapon and was now clutching his right arm with his left. The two agents swarmed past Jack and pulled the man to his feet, cuffing him. One led off the cuffed man, the other turned to Jack. Jack lowered his weapon.

"Identification please."

Jack handed him his year and a half old CTU ID badge. The agent looked at it and frowned but seemed unsure how to proceed with the man who had just made his job a lot easier. "Come with us." He didn't really seem to consider Jack a threat, however.

Jack complied and began to follow. Michelle, Tony, and Chloe hurried to meet him halfway. He hugged Tony and Michelle.

"Jack!" Tony hissed. "What are you doing? You're losing your last chance to get away unnoticed!"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Jack resigned himself. "Someone out there knows I'm alive. Now that Buchanan and Curtis are down, CTU is going to need all the help it can get. I may as well help figure out who that person is instead of hiding and leaving my friends to get hurt."

Michelle glanced at Tony. "Yeah," she agreed. "I think all of us are rejoining the ranks of CTU today."

The four entered the building. With everyone distracted by the two injured men, it was easy to slip to an empty conference room. Video surveillance could be altered later if necessary.

"Tell me everything that's happened, Chloe," Jack started. "Since I lost contact with you."

"Nothing really," Chloe said. "Spencer…this guy working under me…hacked into my computer and saw what I'd been doing on the side for you. He went to Buchanan, Buchanan had me cornered. He was about to have me hauled off when Palmer showed up. I assume that was your doing?"

"Wait," Michelle interrupted. "This Spencer kid…he had security clearance to do something like that? It would take level four passwords at least to log in to your console like that."

"He shouldn't have," Chloe pondered. "Tops, he might have level three."

Jack smiled grimly. "Then we have a place to start our investigation of how this person got through security and managed to put a bomb in Palmer's car. Maybe someone knows something, told him to keep an eye on you. Everything is connected, I know it is; the person following me, Spencer's oddly high security passwords, the attempt on Palmer's life. I just don't know how yet."

"Well I hate to put a damper on everyone's mood," Chloe interjected, "but we can't do anything just yet. In case you forgot, none of you even work here anymore. And with both the director of CTU and the head of field ops in the medical wing, it makes things even more tricky, because I think experience has taught us well that the next step is sending over some incompetent jerk from division."

"She's right," Tony admitted. "That is, generally, how things go."

"There'll be a heavy guard on the shooter," Michelle said, "but we might be able to angle our way in to question him. And Bill might be conscious before long- he didn't look nearly as bad as Curtis." Her voice caught in her throat.

"Well, Jack," Tony said, "you're sure you're ready to do this? Consequences be damned?"

"Consequences be damned," Jack agreed.

"Let's go see what we can find out then." The four left the room. Chloe returned to the floor to make sure everything was still in order. The other three headed to medical, where it was chaotic. Most the staff were busy tending to Buchanan and Curtis, two were doing a checkup on Palmer, and another was tending to Diane and Derek who were confused and scared more than anything. Buchanan was waking up.

"I'm fine," he muttered groggily and even made an attempt to sit up, only to be pushed back by the doctors. "I'm fine. I need to call division."

"Sir," one of the doctors gently interrupted him, "you probably have a concussion. You need to stay here and remain lying down for the time being until we can check for possible brain damage. Do you understand?"

Tony leaned over to Michelle. "You know, I got shot in the neck and came back to work within a few hours and he's just got a measly concussion." Michelle punched him in the arm.

Jack headed over to first talk to Palmer.

"We got the man who shot at you, sir," he told him. "Until we question him further, our best assumption is that he is the same one who put the bomb in your car and detonated it before we got here."

"How are the others?" Palmer asked.

"We don't know yet. Bill seems to be waking up but Curtis was closer to the car and suffered much more severe injuries. Michelle and Tony are fine."

"So you're telling me that CTU is currently operating without both of its top two ranking personnel, correct?" Jack nodded. Palmer looked at him carefully. "Jack, I know you'd rather go back undercover. But someone out there knows you're still alive and we are going to need you to help figure out who that is and what they want."

"Yes, Mr. President. I've already made that decision. There is obviously much more to this than wanting me dead. But I have a daughter that still doesn't know I'm alive. I need to have Chloe get hold of her and bring her here so I can talk to her."

Palmer nodded. "Why don't you go do that. When things are more settled down here, we can discuss what CTU's next course of action will be."

Jack wound his way back through the familiar hallways of CTU. Reaching the main floor, he found it a little hectic as people were unsure how to proceed without any real leadership. Jack spotted Chloe typing away at her computer and headed over to her.

"Chloe, I need you to do a favor for me," he said. "Can you reach Kim and ask her to come here? Don't tell her anything, just try and get her to come to CTU. Say its an emergency but you can't talk about it on the phone."

"Sure," Chloe said distractedly. "But while I'm doing that, can you take a look at this?" She turned her computer monitor to him and picked up the phone. Jack studied the screen. It was a heavily encoded message but Chloe had managed to isolate parts of it and decode them. Some numbers jumped out at him; times and coordinates by the looks of it.

Chloe hung up the phone. "She says she'll be here as soon as possible. I don't think she really wants to set foot in this place ever again but I told her it was important. Now about this message-…"

"Chloe?" Edgar headed over to her. "I have Wayne Palmer on line three, he wants to talk to his brother…?"

"Patch it through to medical," Jack muttered, attention focused on the computer. Edgar noticed Jack for the first time.

"Jack? I thought you were…"

"Yes, Edgar, dead, he's not, now go patch the call through to medical," Chloe interrupted him impatiently.

"Did you run these coordinates here, Chloe?" Jack asked, referring to a decoded segment of the text.

"Yeah. Here's what I found."

He studied the screen. The coordinates plotted a path which ended just outside Los Angeles. A place Jack was very familiar with.

"The President's retreat?" he asked.

"That's right," Chloe said. "I ran the path- it's a flightplan. The Russian president's helicopter will be following that path when it reaches the retreat later this afternoon for the signing of the treaty."

"Damn it." Jack swore under his breath. "Can we get in touch with the pilot and have him alter his course?"

"We can go through air traffic control at Van Nuys. The President's plane should be landing any minute, they'll take a helicopter from there."

"Chloe!" Edgar called. "I have someone from DoD on the line and they want to talk to someone in charge. Who should I give it to?"

"I got it," Chloe sounded extrememly annoyed. She couldn't stand it when things were chaotic, out of order, as they were now without Bill and Curtis to take charge. She spoke abruptly and briefly with the person on the other end and hung up.

"DoD is sending someone over to 'help out'. Get in the way, more like. They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Chloe," Jack said, "we need someone to run CTU while Bill and Curtis are incapacitated. Call division. Convince them to reinstate Michelle and Tony on a provisional basis, just for a few hours."

"They're sending over their own guy already, they'll never do it," Chloe argued. "Michelle and Tony have been out of this job too long."

"They should know as well as we do that anyone they send is still going to need the help of those that already work here. If they reinstate them for today, that person won't have a choice but to listen to them. Otherwise they'll just have security escort them out of the building. You know how these division bigwigs are, they won't take advice from someone outside the circle. Besides," he glanced across the room at the console Spencer was working at, "you can't do anything about Spencer until someone with a little authority is here and someone from division won't take the time to question him."

Chloe sighed. "Alright. But let's go to the conference room and put it on speaker with Michelle and Tony. Maybe President Palmer would like to put a word in?"

Chloe fetched the others while Jack set up the call, then she returned to the floor. It was, of course, not a pretty sight. Young, the bigwig of Division, felt that giving someone who hadn't been involved in CTU for a year and a half control of the entire Los Angeles department was a recipe for disaster.

"And why are you even there, anyway? It's hardly likely that you just dropped by for a social visit." His voice dripped with scorn. Young did not like Michelle very much. She had beaten him out two years earlier for a high level position and he had not forgotten.

"They're here because of me," Palmer finally put in.

"Who's that?" Young asked skeptically.

"David Palmer, Mr. Young. This has gone on quite long enough. CTU is falling apart without someone in charge. Conveniently, you have three people here who all have experience running both tactical and the floor and if you have an ounce of sense in your head, you'll reinstate them all just for the day."

"Three?" Young asked. "Who's the third?" Silence. "Well?"

"Jack Bauer, sir," Jack put in. There was a pronounced silence of several seconds.

"What is this, some sort of conspiracy? You're supposed to be dead!" Jack finally lost his temper.

"That's really not important right now," Jack declared. "What's important is that an attempt was just made on a former president's life and the attack left the top two ranking personnel of CTU in the hospital wing. We have evidence that supports the idea that a possible attack may take place on the helicopter of the Russian president this afternoon, and you're sending over a guy that, qualified as he may be, has no experience running this sort of place. Now, you can utilize the resources available to you or you can let your damned pride get in the way and turn this entire day in to mass chaos."

SCENE

Someone called over to Chloe's console. She picked up the phone with an irritated, "What?"

"DoD liaison is here," Spencer told her.

"Right." Chloe stood up and went to the door to meet him. The person that came through the door and onto the floor of CTU was the last she expected though.

"Hi, Chloe, it's good to see you again." Chloe found herself speechless for several seconds.

"Ms. Raines. It's good to have you back," she stuttered a bit and couldn't help herself; she shot a fleeting glance at the conference room. The conference room with no walls, only windows, rather easy to see through. Jack was on his feet, moving around and, it seemed, talking rather exuberantly. She quickly averted her gaze and began to say something.

"Why don't we go to…" But it was too late. Audrey followed her gaze to the conference room and her breath caught in her throat, eyes wide and disbelieving.

In the conference room, the call ended. It was agreed, with much persuasion from Palmer, to reinstate the three for the day, under the condition that final command would lie with the guy from division. Jack saw Michelle gazing out on to the floor and suddenly she looked stricken.

"Jack…" she began.

Jack turned and met the eyes of the woman he had loved. The woman who told him she couldn't be with him anymore, because of his work. The woman who had believed him to be dead for a year and a half.

SCENE

**Again…very sorry. Please update and say you don't hate me. Please?**

**Seriously though. I don't like this chapter very much. Do you? It's lacking something. I dunno.**

**I'm anticipating one more chapter. We shall see. Kim still has to come in the picture. Keep in mind that this story won't really have an ending. It will just end where it picks up with the show, where I decided to stop changing everything. Haha. **

**Thx for reading. **

**Cheers!**

**Lexi**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, this is it. After this chappie, it sort of picks up with the show. So here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. No money off it for me. Zut alors. **

**Chapter 4**

"I don't think I can do this, Barry."

Kim Bauer slumped down in her seat and closed her eyes, letting the flood of memories wash over her. They were turning in to the CTU parking area and were stopped at a security booth.

"Name and identification," the guard said.

"Kim Bauer," she offered him her id. "Chloe O'Brien should have put me on the guest list." The guard checked her name against a form on a clipboard and nodded, waving her through.

"It'll be fine," Barry offered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What the hell happened here?" he asked as they approached where Palmer's car had exploded. There were still several emergency vehicles in the area and debris was still be cleared from the area near the blast. Kim just shook her head as they were motioned to proceed to a far end of the parking garage.

They parked and proceeded in to the building. Sensing Kim's increasing hesitation, Barry grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "You okay?"

"Both of my parents were murdered in this building," she muttered. "I'm just peachy."

SCENESCENESCENESCENE

"I should have known better than to think that you, of all people, could possibly be dead," Bill sighed in resignation while sitting up in his bed in the infirmary. Doctors had determined he had a mild concussion- nothing too serious, but they advised he remain there for a few hours. So he was doing his best to direct the goings on at CTU. Only to nearly have a heart attack when Jack Bauer walked in the room. He was given a brief summary of the days events

Jack had a brief and awkward reunion with Audrey but they had to get a move on if they were going to find out who Spencer was working for. Chloe was watching him surreptitiously from her work station. They knew, however, that it couldn't be long before he realized they were on to him. They had already recovered the visitor's log; sure enough, Spencer was the one that approved entrance for the would-be-assassin.

The phone beeped. "Jack? Kim's here," Chloe's voice called.

Jack's voice froze in his throat. Finally, he managed to get out, "where?"

"Conference three."

"You should go," Michelle urged him quietly. "Go see her. We've got it handled for the moment."

Jack got about halfway there before all chaos broke loose. A voice called out over the radio. "Video is down, I repeat, we have lost video surveillance!"

Jack swore and spoke in to his radio. "Security needs to cover all exits, we are looking for agent Spencer Wolff, he can not be allowed to leave this building!"

He rushed to find Chloe who seemed to be heading in his general direction. "What happened?"

"He must have shut it down from his computer! I tried to stop him but…"

"Which direction did he head to?" Chloe pointed up a hallway as Tony caught up with them.

"What do we know?" Tony asked.

"Come with me!" Jack called. "Chloe, get on his computer and see what you can do about getting the video back up!"

Jack and Tony tore off down the hallway. "He shut down the video and headed this way. He must know we'd have exits covered by now so best guess is, he's hiding."

Jack pointed Tony down an intersecting hall and he continued down the same one, peering in each room he passed.

SCENESCENESCENESCENE

"Something's wrong here," Kim declared worriedly. Chloe had told them that someone would be in to talk to them in a couple minutes but now everyone that came by the room was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

The door opened- Kim expected to see Chloe or Bill or somebody there but instead, a young agent, gun in hand, came through the door and closed it quickly and quietly, crouching below the window. He didn't notice them right away, sitting at the other end of the room. When he did though, he gasped and turned the gun on them. Kim sat there in shock, paralyzed, wondering if she was about the meet the same fate as both her parents. No one moved a muscle until…

"Drop the gun!"

A voice rang out from the opposite doorway, behind where Kim and Barry were sitting. Tony Almeida was standing there, gun trained on Spencer. "Drop it!" Spencer slowly did as told. "Hands behind your head!"

Tony walked past Kim and approached and cuffed Spencer, speaking in to his walkie-talkie radio as he did so.

"Suspect had been apprehended in conference three, I repeat, suspect has been apprehended in conference three." Within seconds, two burly security guards burst in to the room and dragged him away.

"Tony?" Tony turned to look at Kim's disbelieving eyes and he seemed unsure what to say. "What's going on, Tony? Why am I here?"

"Kim." A soft voice came from behind her. A voice that sounded oddly familiar. She whipped around and found herself staring at the last person in the world she thought she would see today.

"No," she whispered, "no. It's not possible." Barry put a hand on her arm. "You're dead, they told me you were shot."

"Kim…"

"No!" She closed her eyes and struggled for words.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered. "It was for your protection."

A voice crackled over the radio. "Jack, we need you at interrogation one." Silence for a few seconds. "Jack? Do you copy?"

"Just give me a minute," he spoke roughly back in to it.

"Who knew?" Kim asked.

"What?"

"Who knew?" she repeated. "That you weren't dead."

"Chloe. Michelle and Tony. David Palmer."

"That's it?"

"They were the ones that helped me escape. One of Logan's secret service guards was coming to kill me. We faked my death, they smuggled me out."

"So why are you here now?"

"Someone was following me. Someone found out I was still living. And there was an attempt on President Palmer's life. Bill Buchanan and Curtis Manning are both injured."

Kim closed her eyes. "I need some time alone now. I need to think."

"Look, Kim, I want to…"

"Dad, please! I'm glad you're not dead, really, I am. But what do you want me to say? I was pretty messed up for a while, you know. I was twenty-four years old and I get a call saying my one remaining parent was murdered in the say place my mother was and the, lo and behold, a year later I find out I've been lied to? Barry helped me through it and I finally managed to get my life straightened out and even now, CTU is still controlling my life! Please, just give me some time to think."

Jack nodded and left the room. _That_ certainly could have gone over better.

SCENESCENESCENESCENE

"I can't tell you anything." Spencer was adamant. They had been trying to get him to speak for several minutes now. They were trying to figure out who his outside contact was but he wasn't budging.

"It's over, Spencer," Chloe insisted.

"Just tell us who you're trying to protect," Tony put in, "and you can get off a little easier for yourself."

"I can't do that," he said proudly. "I'm just doing my duty."

Tony pulled Michelle out in to the hallway to talk to her.

"What can we do?" he asked. "We're losing valuable time here and I'm hesitant to use a more forceful means of interrogation."

"I don't know," she muttered. "Where's Jack? He might have another idea…"

But just as she said that, Jack came hurriedly down the hallway, President Palmer in tow. They entered the room and Spencer looked quite shocked to see Palmer there. Jack thrust a Polaroid in his face.

"Do you recognize him?" Jack asked. Spencer said nothing, just stared at the picture. "Do you recognize him?" Jack said more loudly and forcefully.

"Yes!" Spencer said.

"Who is he?"

"I let him in to do a tap on some phone lines."

"Under whose orders?" Jack pressed. Spencer was silent.

"Spencer?" Palmer spoke up.

"Mr. President," he acknowledged warily.

"This man is responsible for injuring two of your top agents. He blew up my car and then tried to assassinate me as I walked in the door," he added gently.

"That was him?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"He wasn't putting any taps on phone lines," Jack answered. "Now, I believe you weren't aware of what he really wanted to do which means obviously your employer is playing you. But assisting someone to assassinate a former president…that's a serious crime right there."

"He told me I was just doing my duty to the country," Spencer murmured quietly.

"Who told you that?"

"He said they were worried that CTU was operating without orders from above and it was my job to make sure they knew about what was going on."

"Spencer?" Palmer asked. "Who told you that?"

"Walt Cummings," he said faintly. "The President's Chief of Staff."

There was a stunned silence both in the room and in the observation area outside where Michelle and Tony stood listening with bated breath. A couple minutes later, Jack and Palmer exited the room.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Jack said. "I thought you might be able to provide that extra persuasion. It worked."

"What can we do now, Jack?" Michelle asked. "We can't exactly just have Cummings arrested."

"We need to find out what he's planning," Tony put in. "There must be a greater purpose to what's going on here."

Jack nodded, thinking. "I still have a couple allies among the staff and secret service. I'll call Mike Novick. And then I'll go to the retreat and talk to Cummings."

"What makes you think Novick is going to listen to you?" Tony asked skeptically.

"Simple. He'll have heard by now of the attempt on President Palmer's life. He'll listen…as will the head of secret service, Aaron Pierce."

Michelle nodded. "Just be careful, Jack," she warned. "If Cummings is the one that sent someone after you this morning, he'll know that you're around and probably involved at this point."

Jack went to prepare to leave.

"Dad?"

He turned back to a door he had passed.

"What's going on?" Kim asked.

"I have to leave now," he told her. "I have to go to President Logan's retreat. It seems someone on his staff was involved in the plot to kill Palmer."

Kim came forward and hugged him tightly. "I love you, dad. Be careful."

"I will, sweetie," he sighed. "I love you too."

As he neared his vehicle, he pulled out his cell phone and found the number he wanted. It connected after the second ring.

"Novick."

"Mike? This is Jack Bauer…"

SCENESCENESCENESCENE

**A/N: Well, that's it. My alternate intro to season 5. From that point on, assume it's about the same as the rest of the season.**

**Any thoughts? Comments? Anything?**

**Cheers!**

**Lexi**


End file.
